Topic: Looking at chicks makes you happy. Let's Play Earthbound! (Read 25062 times)

R^2 · « **Reply #160 on:** September 21, 2012, 03:38:45 AM »

In my game right now, Shit has a lower attack power than Gufin. You know, the dedicated black-mage? +30 to attack would bring him up to a distant third, rather than dead last. So no, not really worth the trouble.

R^2 · « **Reply #161 on:** September 21, 2012, 01:22:34 PM »

It's not too long after ~~Return of Belch~~ ~~Master Puke~~ Master Barf that we reach a small cave.

EarthBound (SNES) Music - Tenda Village

You know what? There's something scary that comes from the underground. So, we covered up the hole. There are lots of dinosaurs there. I went there once, but I came right back, 'cause I was so surprised! There was a talking stone that talks a lot. Do you wanna go and see? I understand. But I'm not as strong as I look. The guy next to me is strong, but he lacks conversation skills. He needs to overcome his shyness first.

That's... some weird junk.

The phone is fully functional, of course.

And except for a free inn and a hot spring, that's all there is. So we leave the way we came, only to be interrupted by a phone call.

We're having beautiful weather here... I'm now at Dr. Andonuts lab in Winters.

Lack of apostrophe his mistake, not mine.

The doctor doesn't seem to be around right now, but I'm just working on my Eraser Eraser Machine...

The phone rings again.

We're finally coming near to the end of our research on... how to change a boiled egg back into a raw egg. By the way, Apple Kid is missing. He left here saying that he was going to see Dr. Andonuts in Winters, and he never came back. I was hoping to borrow the book "Overcoming Shyness" from him, but suddenly, he disappeared... I haven't read the book, so I'm not very good at talking... Sorry. I'm also working hard on my invention, so I hope you'll understand. Say hello to your friends for me!

Without any particular destination in mind, since the game is SO SUBTLE about their hints, I teleport out of Deep Darkness.

R^2 · « **Reply #162 on:** September 21, 2012, 01:37:42 PM »

Seemed as good a place as any.

Winters' Theme (Mother 2/EarthBound Instrumental)

(My husband left me here to go play with Tessie along the shores of Lake Tess.)

Oh, I don't have time to chat right now. Tony's missing. I thought he was with you... He suddenly disappeared. He's usually very responsible and leaves a note at least...

All this stuff is... actually utter crap now! It was probably decent equipment around the time you got PSI Teleport and could come back here to get it, which I suppose I could have.

No more Gruff Goats and Runaway Dogs, remember?

Can Diamondize, as I've said before.

Shoots a beam that causes night-time stuffiness, and can use Neutralizers and Shield alpha.

Sebastian chum? You made shark food out of the crab from the Little Mermaid?

It emerged from the lake and flew toward Stonehenge. ...It kidnapped one of my friends along the way.

[Music] EarthBound - Tessie!

IT'S YOU!

Wooly Shamblers are robotic, by the way -- they're just covered in fluffy coats of some sort. They can use PSI Shield alpha and Peekay Flash alpha.

We bring the thunder this time.

Back to safer territory -- had we not erased the Pencil statue here, we'd have to walk through Brickroad's trial dungeon. The enemies are gone, but why detour?

SHIT YOU AGAIN

R^2 · « **Reply #163 on:** September 21, 2012, 01:41:33 PM »

The enemies in the Rainy Circle cave don't bother us, so we don't bother them.

But we do stop by the Rainy Circle itself for the free restore.

The Mighty Bear Sevens and Cave Boys still attack instead of running away, but mopping the floor with them is trivial.

Only Big Foot and a mouse are here, and Big Foot has nothing new to say (or sell).

I was there, but was helpless. Sorry about that.

R^2 · « **Reply #164 on:** September 21, 2012, 01:58:34 PM »

EarthBound - Lava Springs [HQ]

Well, that's a good start.

The Stonehenge Base is a long, nasty, dangerous dungeon. Here's part of the reason why. Mook Seniors have a choice of using Freeze beta, Fire alpha, Lifeup beta, or glaring with their eerie eyes every turn. You can't catch a break.

They don't always come alone, either.

Atomic Power Robots use almost every turn "refilling a fuel supply", which completely restores the HP of one ally.

They're pretty much the only enemy in the game worth using Shit's Mirror technique on, since Shit will then pick a random party member and fully heal them every turn for the rest of the fight. They can also fire beams, but it's rare.

Oh, and they explode when they die, like trees do.

Flash gamma slightly increases the chance of instantly slaying a foe instead of making them cry.

Hey, shouldn't you be in a zoo somewhere? Starmen are Giygas's foot soldiers. They can fire beams and use Shield alpha and Magnet alpha. Sometimes they use Sudden Guts Pills, but to no avail: all Guts does for enemies is determine their chances of critical hits, and beams can't SMAAAAASH!!

Halves damage for the whole party.

As beta, but tries to strike three times.

Revives almost any status ailment, and if someone is KOed, restores them to full HP.

Ah, here we are. The "factory area".

Here and only here can you find the Starman Super, and thus here is where many games spend hours and hours fighting one after another. Starman Super, you see, has a 1/128 chance to drop the aforementioned-in-thread Sword of Kings, the only weapon that Shit can use.

Thankfully, they're easy to greenswirl for an instant victory. The Casey Bat is theoretically useful here if your attack power sucks and need a boost to the calcuations on whether you can dole out enough damage in a preemptive attack to instantly defeat an opponent, but I've never needed it for that.

The problem here is that Starman Supers are often joined in battle by regular Starmen and Atomic Power Robots, meaning even if you greenswirl you don't instantly win the fight. Those Atomic Power Robots in particular are a pain in the ass.

As gamma, but strikes four times.

As gamma, but even more likely to instantly slay opponents, with a 3/8 chance. The remaining enemies will either cry (3/8 chance), feel strange (1/8 chance), or be paralyzed (1/8 chance).

Why yes we are gaining a mighty fuckload of experience levels here why do you ask

Peekay Fire omega is a strong fire attack against one row of foes.

Gamma is already a full HP restore to one target, so omega instead restores some HP to the whole party.

I KNOW DAD I'VE BEEN IN THIS BASE FOR TWO FUCKING HOURS ALREADY WHERE THE FUCK IS MY SWORD

The most powerful Peekay attack in the game, natch. Snes is now level 75, for the record.

We're too beat up and running out of PP to continue. Better luck next time.

McDohl · « **Reply #165 on:** September 22, 2012, 04:30:31 PM »

It would be interesting if you hit the level cap prior to a certain event later in the game, and what effect it has on those events.

Rico · « **Reply #166 on:** September 22, 2012, 06:35:56 PM »

Pretty sure you just wouldn't get your large HP/PP boost. He's not really in danger of hitting that, though.

R^2 · « **Reply #167 on:** September 23, 2012, 01:33:53 PM »

Okay, we're going to try something else for a little while.

Rock Candy. When you eat it, one of your stats other than Offense or Defense goes up by 1. If you eat it with a Sugar Packet (or Jar of Delicsauce), one of your stats goes up by 2 instead. Consumed on use.

EXCEPT

If used in-battle, sprinked with a condiment, and the condiment is closer to the top of your inventory list than the Rock Candy itself, only the condiment will be consumed.

Greenswirl battles are mostly based on attack power, but it's possible to instantly win blackswirl battles too if you're significantly faster than your opponents. So we go through a few rounds of this, with each character using a stick of Rock Candy like it's Fun-Dip.

Does anyone even remember Fun-Dip? I'm so old.

007 also fixes an equipment upgrade for himself using a broken item we found in Stonehenge itself.

We head back through Winters...

And back into the base.

Your HP is adjusted to a total based on your Guts when you level up, and PP is likewise based on IQ. Everyone gets at least +30 HP and PP on leveling. Shit, who ate the most sugar overall, gets the biggest gains.

And diabetes.

For what it's worth, the statgrinding had no effect on whether I could instantly win any battles here.

And to keep from getting exploded at all the damn time, I start using 007's Spy command on enemies, then running away.

Spy tells you the enemy's offense and defense, and whether they're particularly vulnerable to any status effects. But we're more interested in its second use: it also tells you if an enemy is going to drop an item at the end of battle, and instead of making you fight for it, 007 swipes said item and puts it in his inventory.

See, the way random drops work in this game is that all the enemies in the fight have a chance to drop an item. The game only chooses one enemy from any given battle, then rolls the chance that they'll drop it. Fighting a Starman Super has a 1/128 chance of dropping a Sword of Kings, an Atomic Power Robot has an 8/128 chance of dropping a Super Bomb. If they're together, the game chooses either to roll for the Sword of Kings or the Super Bomb before checking to see if an item will drop.

All that happens when the battle begins. If you Spy on any enemy in the fight, and the battle was one that would normally drop an item, you get that item.

It's wonky, but that's how it is.

Not that that matters anyway, since we greenswirled a Starman Super by himself to finally get the drop.

Totally. Worth it.

R^2 · « **Reply #168 on:** September 23, 2012, 03:21:22 PM »

The next area has an annoying flickering effect on the lights.

And a #finalfighter or two.

TUUUUUUUUBES

*Bloop* *Glub* 007!... *Bloop* ... Where... is... 007... *Bloop*

Well. Next room, then.

We were *beep* not prepared for that eventuality... The prophecy from the *click* Apple of Enlightenment may be true... but you must not *whirr* underestimate us.

The Apple of Enlightenment is elaborated upon... in a quote by an NPC that, due to a bug, doesn't actually appear in the game. It's another piece of Giygas's alientech, a machine that can tell the future. In this case, it foretold that Giygas would be defeated by a bunch of Earthling kids -- which is why he sent the Starman Jr. as an assassin back at the beginning of the game.

Starman Deluxe might theoretically be dangerous, but dude do you even know how many levels we gained in this dungeon? (Hint: approximately twenty.)

One Multibottle Rocket, for 2400+ damage. He didn't even get to move.

There is a terrible noise and the lights in the background dim. The Stonehenge Base has shut down, and all enemies are removed from it. That's right -- the Sword of Kings is a missable item.

R^2 · « **Reply #169 on:** September 23, 2012, 06:52:06 PM »

It frees the prisoners, too.

Excellent use of the line-break-demands-button-press-for-comedic-timing, here.

The Saturn Ribbon is a headgear upgrade for Gufin, replacing the Talisman Ribbon she got not all too long ago.

Well, lucky you they didn't stuff you in that tube until I'd already beaten up a few hundred aliens and robits upstairs.

I also got to meet Dr. Andonuts... See you.

You're looking for the book "Overcoming Shyness"? I returned it to the Onett library. Please use it to help the shy Tenda tribe. ...Anyway, because of you, I had an incredible experience... wow! I was kidnapped by some of Giygas' toadies!

I want to start on the Phase Distorter as soon as possible. ...Oh, I almost forgot to thank you. Thank you. Don't worry about us. You've got important things to do...

You... came to rescue me! Pal!
...Oh, Snes? I'm Tony.

Yeah, we spoke on the phone.

I didn't think they'd git a ransom for kidnappin' little ol' me.

No matter what happens I will live, live, live ten thousand years. Thanks for all you've done.

R^2 · « **Reply #170 on:** September 23, 2012, 07:11:27 PM »

For whatever reason I always think you have to talk to the librarian to get "Overcoming Shyness", so I do. And she gives me a town map. Oops.

So I drop it off at home and come back.

Oopsie.

You actually have to find the book yourself.

It'd have to, otherwise you'd get stage fright and couldn't read it to everyone. How'd you get to be chief, anyway?

"Tendakraut" is a type of dish that all Tenda like. It stinks, but it tastes wonderful.

It's a durian in Japanese. Point is, it smells terrible.

...were you waiting up there the whole time?

We're prompted by the chief to enter our name again.

I dunno what you guys put in your tea, but dag.

You may have cursed this never-ending journey.

You have known injury and defeat, but you have struggled on to reach this place.

Your in-born intelligence and courage have helped bring you here.

You have believed in your friends, and as a group, you have supported each other.

Have you ever stopped to consider how much your power has grown?

Now, you could fell enemies in Onett and Twoson with one blow.

As you certainly know, you cannot turn back.

Giygas, the arch fiend of the universe, is growing frightened of you and your power.

He is searching for ways to end your journey.

From here, the challenge grows and your adventure will take you beyond anything you ever imagined.

You are drawing near to Giygas.

Remember, when you are suffering hardships, your enemy is also struggling.

By the way, do you know where Pokey went?

When this cup of tea is finished, your adventure will continue.

Your destiny pulls you in the right direction.

Believe in yourself and press forward.

Ness!
Paula!
Jeff!
Poo!

I wish you luck…

Plain Rolls, Plain Yogurt, and Spicy Jerky are all healing foods (80, 160, and 250 HP respectively). The Bag of Dragonite is the same Pokemon-in-a-sack we've used before, dealing about 600 fire damage to all enemies. Talisman Coin and Hall of Fame Bat are equipment upgrades.

Horns of Life are sold in Saturn Valley for a little under $2000. It's worth the teleport there and back for the gear.

Big.
Scary.
"Lost Underworld".
Stone.
There is.
Talks lots.

He flings the stone offscreen.

R^2 · « **Reply #171 on:** September 23, 2012, 07:38:42 PM »

Pink Cloud Shrine: Earthbound Music

But the rocks around here don't talk too much. The rock that talks the most is deep down in the labyrinth a ways ahead... in the "Lost Underworld." Don't forget to talk to the rock! It's important!

Conducting Spirits are like the Conducting Menaces from before, attacking with Flash alpha or Thunder abilities up to sigma. Uncontrollable Spheres start with Shield alpha in effect, and can use Fire alpha and beta in battle. They explode when defeated, but have a 1/128 chance of dropping a Broken Antenna, which can be repaired into 007's best weapon.

Fobbies are like Foppies, but a little stronger. Very little. They still start with Can't Concentrate, preventing them from using their Brainshock abilities. They can use an HP-Sucker, but that's as scary as they get.

Hyper Spinning Robos can put up shields and fire beams. Whee.

hahaha what

Fourth or fifth battle here, tops. Looks like the game feels sorry for all that damn time I spent in Stonehenge.

Of course we went back to the Tenda village and slept in their free inn a bunch of times.

Very nice.

Back to the dungeon, now.

The Rabbit's Foot is equipped as a bracelet, and gives very little defense bonuses, but a huge boost to Speed. We give it to 007, because bottle rockets.

Headgear for Shit, natch.

This place is a maze. Finding the way out is actually kind of difficult.

But it's mine now. Take it from me, if you dare...

I dunno what it is about this guy, but I love his design. It's so anatomically impractical.

As you may have guessed, Electro Specter likes using electric attacks! His only attack other than that is a Hungry HP-Sucker, but that one's rare. If you brought a Franklin Badge it's almost impossible to lose. He can also use Neutralizers and Shield Killers -- in fact, he used the Neutralizer first turn, and destroyed the PSI Shield he always starts the battle with. Whatta maroon.

Multibottle rockets are so broken.

EarthBound - Welcome to Your Sanctuary [HQ]

The text moves right-to-left, like a scrolling marquee.

Eh, forget it.

It's been a long road getting here... Soon, I'll be... Soon, I'll be... What will happen to us?
W... what's happening? My thoughts are being written out on the wall... or are they?

Sound Stone - Lumine Hall - Earthbound Music

We drop through the hole. It's a long fall!

Whoa.

McDohl · « **Reply #172 on:** September 24, 2012, 03:26:14 AM »

Entire team is BABIES!

Classic · « **Reply #173 on:** September 24, 2012, 11:05:07 AM »

When you first get to the Land of the Lost, the dinosaurs are supposed to represent a legitimate threat.
How quickly can you murderize them without multibottle rockets?

R^2 · « **Reply #174 on:** September 24, 2012, 06:55:01 PM »

Best VGM 288 - Earthbound - The Lost Underworld

SHIT SHIT SHIT IT SPOTTED US SHIT SHIT

Wetnosaurs don't have any nasty tricks. They just swing their tails and stomp their feet and bite. It takes one turn of physical attacks to beat them.

An earthquake, then a geyser erupts. It's how you know it's dinosaur times.

Sort of.

Ego Orbs just attack, attack, attack. They're even more fragile than Wetnosaurs; Snes (the slowest party member) rarely needs to chip in with an attack.

Chomposaurs are the most dangerous of the dinosaurs. They can stomp and tail-whip like Wetnosaurs, and are capable of using Peekay Fire up to level sigma. Worse, they start with a power shield, halving the damage they take from physical attacks and deflecting the damage they didn't take back to the person who hit them.

They take about a turn and a half of physical attacks. 007 is usually the first to move, and spends his turn using the Shield-Killer instead of firing the Gaia Beam or Heavy Bazooka.

I dunno, I saw a giant fucking dinosaur charging at me a minute ago, you can be damn sure I evacuated right there and then.

Did you feel the earthquake a little while ago? ...You know, we have earthquakes all the time here. After an earthquake, the hot springs will erupt. The blue springs are great for recovering health. The red springs are perfect for healing paralysis or drawing out poison.

The bird is a functional telephone.

R^2 · « **Reply #175 on:** September 24, 2012, 07:17:40 PM »

I'm going to open the door, and you get out of there right now! I'm the boss, so I will let you out.

(Snes's Tendakraut was stolen. The awful smell surrounding the group is now gone.)

That rock really jabbers away!

I don't understand what he's talking about.

This guy is the inn, charging $400 per night.

That's what my brother tells me. But I don't believe it... he's just spewing out of his cake hole.

It's another equipment upgrade... for Snes and Gufin, at least.

because we couldn't stand the quiet up above. So, we established a separate tribe. I hope we can be friendly again some day. ...Yeah, it was a lot easier to live up above.

He introduces himself as Ay-go Stikke, which is a poorly-translated Japanese pun. He acts as an ATM, "loaning" you money.

Yeah, you know, the Tenda up there are shy and don't like to talk. Don't you think the Tenda up above have some particularly beautiful women? They're still shy, though.

S... so moe~!

Fuck no I'm not screencapping this entire speech.

Finally, you talk to me. Listen Ness. I’m going to tell you something very important. You may want to take notes.

Ready? You’re the chosen one. Your destiny is not only yours… It’s the destiny of the whole universe. There will be a time in which all of you in the universe will overlap each other. …It’s not necessary to understand now.

Do you remember “Giant Step” in Onett? That is one of “Your Sanctuary.” It is a spot which gives you power and allows you to realize all your skills. There was a monster that protected it. The monster was influenced by the power of the place. You must have beaten those monsters. You must reach all of the eight power spots in the world… When the Sound Stone records the melodies of all eight power spots, you can finally see “Your World.” I’ll tell you all of the power spots.

1. “Giant Step” in Onett.
2. “Lilliput Steps” in Peaceful Rest Valley near Twoson.
3. “Milky Well” in Grapefruit Falls in Saturn Valley.
4. “Rainy Circle” found by Jeff in Winters.
5. “Magnet Hill” at the edge of the city of Fourside.
6. “Pink Cloud” which Poo knows.
7. and… “Lumine Hole” where the shining lichen lives in the cave.
8. A new place is now going to be opened up to you. “Fire Spring,” located southwest of here.

Listen to the melodies of all eight power spots. If you do not fail, you may upset Giygas’ plans… Understand, Ness? The time will come. The time when the destiny of you and the whole universe will overlap… It is fast approaching.

Yeah. He was talkative, all right. But now we know why we've been going to the Your Sanctuary locations like Buzz Buzz told us -- it opens a path to Snes's "World", allowing him to discover the power he needs to beat Giygas.

So let's head off to the Fire Spring, eh?

So, I'm healing my wounds in the hot springs.

Wow, I guess Porky's words really can cut you like a knife.

A dead end. Across the chasm is a heap of scrap metal and a weird metal spire.

The last piece of equipment for Shit. With this, his defense is higher than anyone else in the party. His offense is still terrible, though -- Gufin's is still better after the Holy Fry Pan we bought a couple screencaps ago.

...Except now I can't get out.

R^2 · « **Reply #176 on:** September 24, 2012, 07:38:32 PM »

Mother 1 + 2 music : Fire Spring Cave / Stonehenge Base

Evil Elementals can disrupt your senses and possess you. Soul-Consuming Flames use Peekay Fire attacks. But no random encounters are all that threatening to us anymore, since we're so overleveled from all those Starman Supers.

Psychic Psychoes are red guys with salt-shaker heads. They use Peekay Fire alpha and beta -- a PSI counter shield will destroy them for you. Major Psychic Psychoes can use Peekay Fire beta and gamma, as well as Shield omega and Paralysis alpha. Their 1/128 drop is the Star Pendant, which protects against fire, freeze, flash, and paralysis attacks. Snes, Gufin, and 007 can all equip it.

We're not going to farm for three 1/128 drops. Yet.

Meteotites can be sold for about $5000, I think. We just passed by one of the last shops in the game, and have more money than we know what to do with, so

It's a twisty, mazey dungeon, but we reach the top.

Come on, you know the speech by now.

Mother 2/EarthBound Music - Sanctuary Guardian

Carbon Dog is, naturally, the most dangerous guardian we've fought so far. His physical attacks are nasty, and he can belch fire that either deals about 350 damage to one target, or acts like Peekay Fire omega against the whole party. He's not vulnerable to any status ailments, and Fire and Freeze attacks barely faze him. What's worse...

...when you deplete his HP...

He changes form!

To a Diamond Dog that comes equipped with a power shield innate!

Diamond Dog bites for a physical attack, and foregoes the fire-elemental blasts in favor of restoring his power shield, causing diamondize status on the party, or emitting a "glorious light" with the same effects as Peekay Flash omega.

Oh, and here's an idea: DON'T FUCKING DO THIS.

Thankfully the next attack won the fight. You'll notice that the message announcing 007's damage didn't say it was "mortal" damage -- had the HP counter rolled down to 1, it would have stopped before hitting 0. Sometimes that happens, if your Guts is high enough. Still, better that we won instead of Diamond Dog getting to cherry-tap someone to death.

The sound stone records a single, long tone.

R^2 · « **Reply #177 on:** September 24, 2012, 07:39:52 PM »

Earthbound - Sound Stone

R^2 · « **Reply #178 on:** September 24, 2012, 07:50:02 PM »

Earthbound - Eight Melodies Theme EXTENDED

Snes… he smiled just from hearing his own name. Do you think he likes his name?

Try putting that red cap on him. Ha ha ha! It’s too big, but it looks good on him…

I hope AirBud won’t be jealous of the baby.

Let’s celebrate with some Brains.

This baby will grow up to be a hard worker just like you.

I don’t think he needs to be rich or famous… but I want him to be a thoughtful, strong boy.

That’s odd… the baby bottle that he pointed at seemed to move a little bit… Hmm...

The screen fades, and...

[Music] EarthBound - Entering Magicant...

McDohl · « **Reply #179 on:** September 24, 2012, 08:13:01 PM »

Yaaaaaaay existentialist insanity! With giant carrots!

News:

Author Topic: Looking at chicks makes you happy. Let's Play Earthbound! (Read 25062 times)